In 1974 I was 21, a full time college student, working three jobs, and somehow having the time of my life. Music was a major factor in my life and, fortunately for me, there was an amazing amount of wonderful new music every month. Let’s take a quick look at some of the key album releases during the first three months of 1974. By the way, if you are interested, the picture above is Big Star (more about them below).

So get ready, set aside some quality time, and head back to the first quarter of 1974 with me. Enjoy…….

January 1974 Album Releases

The Way We Were-Barbara Streisand

I’m a rocker at heart and it probably surprises many of you that I bought this album when it was released but ……great music is great music! The only comments I have about the album are: What a voice and what an album. It would have been easy to play the title track but here’s one that I like even better……I think you will like it……

What are you doing for this rest of your like? I ask myself that question a lot more now that I’m older…..

Court and Spark-Joni Mitchell

Joni, part of my holy trinity of Canadian music (Neil, Joni, and Gordon), was continuing to evolve her musical style. Court and Spark started to add in some jazz elements but lost none of it’s introspection which is what drew me to her in the first place. I’ve learned a lot of lessons in my years and in 1974 Joni choose to write about one of them in a song…..It’s Down To You……

Everything comes and goes
Pleasure moves on too early
And trouble leaves too slow
Just when you’re thinking
You’ve finally got it made
Bad news comes knocking
At your garden gate
Knocking for you
Constant stranger
You’re a brute you’re an angel
You can crawl you can fly too
It’s down to you
It all comes down to you

Energized-Foghat

Foghat was an amazing boogie band from the 70’s and has gotten the respect that they deserve in my humble opinion. Here is one of Foghat’s masterpieces that doesn’t get the respect it deserves……Home In My Hand. If you were lucky enough to see them play it live back in the 70’s, as I was, I guarantee that you were entertained…….

Grevious Angel-Gram Parsons

I’ve written about the sad story of Gram Parsons as part of my Southern California Sound series. Grevious Angel was released after Gram’s untimely death in the fall of 1973. Brass Buttons is a classic (Poco did an amazing cover version that you might want to checkout) and you need to hear it straight from the mouth of the writer…..sing it Gram……

Sundown-Gordon Lightfoot

January 1974 was a great month for Canadian music releases with Gordon joining Joni in releasing a new album. The title track was one of Gordon’s biggest sellers but you dig a little deeper in the album to find the real treasure……Seven Island Suite…….

Look around at the morning, guess you’re doing the best you can
Surely you know that when you go nobody gives you a hand
Think of the air you’re breathing in, think of the time you waste
Think of the right and wrong and consider the frown on your face

February 1974 Album Releases

Kiss-Kiss

Forty years after the release of their debut album, Kiss is finally going to get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….it’s about time! This album wasn’t a hit, the band wouldn’t really take off until their release of their double live album, but I’ve got to give it to the boys….they had ambition. Listen to its Kissin’ Time and you will see exactly what I mean……

Badfinger-Badfinger

If you are a reader of this blog you already know that I have a soft spot in my heart for Badfinger and their incredibly sad story. This was the group’s first album after leaving Apple records and unfortunately the end was a lot nearer than anyone foresaw. The song I have for you today from this album was written by Pete Ham, I Miss You………

Damn it Pete….I Miss You! RIP buddy!

Radio City-Big Star

Looking back it seems ironic that Big Star released their second album the same month as the Badfinger release discussed above. September Gurls was maybe the best pop song of the 70’s and to this day very few people have even heard of Big Star…..it’s a fucking tragedy ……

Of course the entire Big Star history is pretty much one big tragedy. I’m reading a biography of Alex Chilton, the band’s lead singer, right now and I’m planning a post dedicated to Big Star’s sad story. Stay tuned for that…..

What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits-Doobie Brothers

The Doobies were going through some significant personnel changes in 1974, and more were on the way, but they managed to put out another great album in 1974. The song that I have for you today makes me want to be floating down a little southern river in a canoe…..laid back without a care in the world….

If you listen closely, you can appreciate some amazing steel guitar added by Skunk Baxter. He would be an official member of the group by 1975 as the band’s sound started to change. More about that next……

A New Life-Marshall Tucker Band

This was Marshall Tucker’s second release and it confirmed that they were not just a one trick pony. The title track from this album highlights everything that makes Marshall Tucker Band one of the best bands from the 70 (great vocals, amazing musicianship, and great songwriting)…..listen and be amazed……

March 1974 Album Releases

Kansas-Kansas

I’m a sucker for bands named after the states that they’re from and Kansas is one of the best examples of such a band. This was the debut album for Kansas and if you listen to the lead off song and it immediately let’s you know that you should expect great things from this band……

Bridge Of Sighs-Robin Trower

Jimi Hendrix was gone but we still had Robin to blow our minds. You can’t go wrong with the title track from this album….absolutely Epic……..

On The Border-Eagles

1974 found the Eagles, one of my favorite Southern California Sound bands, starting to move towards a more rock oriented sound. You wouldn’t know it from the song I have for you today, Ol’ 55, one of the few songs on the album not written by the group. The amazing Tom Waits wrote the song and the Eagles performance of it is something to be treasured. It brings back some amazing memories of driving back home from various girlfriends houses as the sun was coming up in my rear view mirror……

Get Your Wings-Aerosmith

On their sophomore album Aerosmith fully hit their stride. It was an amazing album and the start of a string of releases that would make Aerosmith one of my all time favorites. Let’s listen to Track 5 from the album, SOS (Too Bad)……in case you are wondering SOS stands for Same Old Shit…….

Somethin’s Happening-Peter Frampton

In 1974 something was at least on the verge of happening for Peter. The release of Frampton Comes Alive in 1976 would make him a superstar but you could see it coming by listening to this 1974 release. Let’s listen to the title song from the album, Somethin’s Happening……

(For a great story about the Abandoned Luncheonette cover checkout this blog post)

Some people will tell you that the 70s were a vast wasteland for music. To those people I say….”You don’t know what the hell you are talking about!” Take a look at the unbelievable collection of albums that were released in the last three months of 1973 and I dare you to find another three months in any year that produced the same level of music quality and diversity. I’m proud to say that I have these albums in my collection.

So get ready….I have well over an hour of music below celebrating the best albums released at the end of 1973. Enjoy…….

October 1973 Album Releases

Selling England By The Pound – Genesis

This is probably my favorite Genesis album of all time. It was back during the days when the band was fronted by Peter Gabriel (i.e. it was the “real” Genesis). I know what I like and here it is……

Time Fades Away – Neil Young

This is the rarest Neil album of all time to the best of my knowledge. I am lucky enough to have the vinyl album…I say that because Neil has never released this one as a CD. Here’s one of my favorite songs from Neil which is one of his most autobiographical numbers. It’s also a great New Years Resolution if you are still looking for one……Don’t Be Denied……

Quadrophenia – The Who

I’m quite sure that I’ve talked about this before…..Quadrophenia is my favorite album by the Who and this is my favorite song from that album…….

For Everyman – Jackson Browne

I think Jackson Browne may be the most talented singer/songwriter of my generation. I’m currently working on a major blog post that provides a critical analysis of a set of Jackson’s songs including the title song from this album. Since I will be talking about Everyman in that post, I have chose to feature These Days my second favorite song from this album……

Laid Back – Greg Allman

Wrapping up the October albums is Greg Allman’s first solo album which is a classic by anyone’s standards. I love Greg’s voice and he is a terrific songwriter as well. Here is Multicolored Lady from Greg’s album.

November 1973 Album Releases

Abandoned Luncheonette – Hall and Oates

Before Hall and Oates produced their string of “Pop” hits they produced that absolute masterpiece. It is without a doubt my favorite for their albums and the title song from the album is stunning. Give it a listen and you will see what i mean…..

Piano Man – Billy Joel

What can you say about Billy Joel that hasn’t already been said? This is the album and the title song that started it all for him………

Mind Games – John Lennon

This was John’s fourth solo album. He started working on the title song during the Get Back sessions by his first band that you might remember as The Beatles :-). Let’s listen……

Keep on playing those mind games together
Raising the spirit of peace and love
I want you to make love, not war I know you’ve heard it before

Fergusile Park – Stealers Wheel

Stealers Wheel was a great but very much under appreciated group. Fergusile Park was the group’s second album and by the time the album was released it was down to the duo of Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty each of whom was a great songwriter so I’ve chose to highlight a song from each of them from this album. First up is Star that was written by Joe Egan…..

Next up is Who Cares that was written by Gerry Rafferty. When I listened to this song back in 1973 I knew that Gerry was going to have a very long career. Unfortunately we lost Gerry way to soon back in 2011!

Stealers Wheel didn’t last long after this album. Gerry’s went on to have a great solo career while Joe’s career kind of faded away. Sometimes talent just isn’t enough…..the music business is tough.

Montrose – Montrose

Montrose was a powerhouse that featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar and Sammy Hagar on vocals. They rocked on their debut album which you can see for yourself by listening to the first song, Rock the Nation (written by Ronnie)……

December 1973 Album Releases

Band On The Run – Paul McCartney and Wings

Not to be outdone by John’s release of Mind Games, Paul released this Wings masterpiece the very next month. The title song, with its three independent parts beautifully woven together, is an absolute classic……

Tales From Topographical Oceans – Yes

One double album featuring four sides of music each of which is made up of a single song. Yes it has to be Tales from Topographical Oceans. My favorite of the four songs….The Remembering…..see what you think……..

Ozark Mountain Daredevils – The Ozark Mountain Daredevils

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were a very much under appreciated band. Their first, self titled, album featured one hit (If You Wanna Get To Heaven) but a lot of other great music as well. Today let’s listen to Colorado Song. I think you will like it……

Ridin The Storm Out – REO Speedwagon

The REO Speedwagon of the early 70’s rocked. While they would go on to have significant “pop” success in the 80s, I have always preferred their early stuff from the 70s. The title song from this album is my favorite…….

Wild Tales – Graham Nash

Graham’s second solo album was a great piece of work. Let’s listen to the final song from the album, Another Sleep Song……

September of 1973 had some amazing album releases including Bruce Springsteen’s sophomore release; releases from Poco and Uriah Heep when they were at the top of their game; a release from Linda Ronstadt who was on the verge of becoming a superstar; and the first solo album from Art Garfunkel after he and Paul Simon went their separate ways. I bought each of the albums back in 1973 and I love them as much today as I did when I purchased them.

In today’s post I feature a favorite song from each of the above albums plus a bonus song/interview/concert that is related to the album in some way. So……step into my musical time machine while we travel back to September 1973 and enjoy some great music…….

Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, The Innocent, & The E-Street Shuffle

My featured song from Bruce’s second release is New York City Serenade which I think is Bruce’s most beautiful song ever. It was an amazing accomplishment for such a young songwriter/musician/composer.

The bonus I have picked out for The Wild, The Innocent, and The E-Street Shuffle is a Bruce concert from 2012 where Bruce and the band play the entire album. This is a real treasure….I hope you enjoy it.

Poco – Crazy Eyes

Crazy Eyes was Poco’s most ambitious album of their career. The title song is an absolutely amazing song (written about Gram Parsons) and I have selected to feature it today.

The bonus I have picked out for the Crazy Eyes album s an interview with Richie Furay about the title song.

Uriah Heep – Sweet Freedom

Sweet Freedom is the one and only Uriah Heep album that I purchased but it was a good one. My favorite song was called Stealin and I have chosen to feature it today.

The bonus post for Sweet Freedom is the entire album. If you haven’t heard the album, you really need to take advantage of this and listen today. It’s good stuff!

Linda Ronstadt – Don’t Cry Now

Don’t Cry Now was Linda’s release that preceded her break through album, Heart Like A Wheel. It featured songs from some of the hottest young songwriters and musicians from the Southern California sound school of music. Today I have chosen to feature what I think is Linda’s greatest vocal performance ever, Love Has No Pride.

The bonus post for Don’t Cry Now is a version Love Has No Pride that was recorded by American Flyer, a band that featured Eric Kaz who wrote the song. Although I think Linda’s version is the best ever recording of the song, the American Flyer version is great in it’s own way. It features Craig Fuller on lead vocals…. you might remember his voice from Pure Prairie League.

Art Garfunkel – Angel Clare

Angel Clare was Art Garfunkel’s first solo album. Art could sing the New York city phone book and I would buy it but fortunately for us his first album featured some really great songwriters, including Jimmy Webb. Jimmy wrote All I Know, my favorite song from the album, and I have chosen to feature that song for you today.

For his third album release, Watermark, Art chose to release an entire album of Jimmy Webb songs. The first song on that album was called Crying In My Sleep. I personally think it is the best thing that Art has ever recorded and I have chosen to feature that song as a bonus post. Sadly, Crying In My Sleep was released as the first single from album and was not a hit. The album was immediately pulled and rereleased with an additional song called (What A) Wonderful World (not composed by Jimmy Webb) which produced a hit single.

Albums released in July and August of 1973 featured a number of new bands, a notable comeback, a notable follow-up to an earlier classic, and an amazing collaboration. Let’s dive right in to some of the highlights

July

Queen – Queen

Before becoming the band that we all know and love as Queen, the band was known as Smile and featured Brian May and Roger Taylor. When Farrokh Bulsara, joined Smile things began to change: Farrokh Bulsara became Freddy Mercury, Smile became Queen, and the band became more experimental. With the creation of Queen, the music world would never be the same. The band released their self titled first album in July of 1973 and the lead off song on the album was called Keep Yourself Alive. Let’s listen……..

New Your Dolls – New York Dolls

Here is what I had to say about the New York Dolls in an earlier post:

Some call them glam, some call them the Godfathers of Punk (I think Iggy owns that title), some call them the fathers of the New York rock scene (The Ramones, Blondie, etc), some call them outrageous, and some thought they were a joke. I thought they rocked and I loved them. Come on, how could you not love these guys? They are the only group that I know of that was honored as both the best and worst new group in the same year….in the same magazine.

The Dolls released their first album in July of 1973 and it was amazing. Here is one of its best songs….let’s listen………..

10cc – 10cc

Here is what I had to say about 10cc in an earlier post:

10cc were one of the true pop treasures of the early 1970s but they were a band with a split personality. The band’s four members included two songwriting teams. Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman were pop songwriters and accounted for the groups hit songs. Kevin Godley and Lol Creme were the more experimental half of 10cc and produced the more arty portion of the group’s material.

My favorite song from their, self named, debut album is called The Dean and I and was written by Godley and Creme. As reported in Wikipedia:

The song is written from the perspective of an American father telling his children about how he met and fell in love with their mother, with the first real line of the song being “Hey, kids, let me tell you how I met your mom. We were dancing and romancing at the senior prom”. The epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton is mentioned in the lyrics. The later part of the lyric tackles the grim realities of middle-aged married life “…when the paint is peeling, and all the chips are down…”

Did I mention those two guys were artsy? Let’s listen……..

Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin – Love Devotion and Surrender

Along with the new bands discussed above, July 1973 was also notable for the release of an amazing collaboration between two of the best guitarists of their time: Carlos Santana, leader of the rock band Santana, and John McLaughlin, a jazz fusion guitarist and leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The two men were both followers of Sri Chinmoy and huge fans of John Coltrane and these common interests provided the inspiration for their 1973 collaboration, named Love Devotion and Surrender. The lead off song was their take on A Love Supreme, one of Coltrane’s most amazing compositions. Let’s listen…..

August

Lynyrd Skynyrd – (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd)

Here is what I had to say about Lynyrd Skynyrd in an earlier post:

Lynyrd Skynyrd emerged from Jacksonville, Florida as a fully formed southern rock band that was ready to kick ass. They named themselves after their high school gym teacher and produced an amazing first album in 1973, Pronounced Leh’-nerd Skin-nerd.

When I featured this album as an album of the week I mentioned that Gimme Three Steps was my favorite song from their debut and that hasn’t changed. Let’s listen…..

Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On

Marvin Gaye had release his classic album What’s Going On in 1971. Producing a follow-up to one of the best albums of all time was not a easy task but Marvin was up for the job. He released Let’s Get it On in August of 1973, and while it never reached the heights of What’s Going On, it was still an absolute vocal masterpiece in my opinion. Let’s listen to my favorite song from the album………

Allman Brothers Band – Brothers and Sisters

As we have previously discussed in this blog, the Allman Brothers Band had dealt with some unimaginable losses in the early 1970. Both Duane Allman, defacto leader of the band, and Berry Oakley, the band’s bass player, were killed in separate motorcycle accidents in Macon, Georgia. With these losses, the band’s future was anything but guaranteed. Any ideas about the demise of the band were put to rest by the release of Brothers and Sisters in August of 1973. The band’s sound had changed, out of necessity. The dual lead guitars were gone and Dicky Betts stepped up as a major songwriter. Amazingly enough, the album represented the biggest commercial success of the group. Although Greg only wrote two of the album’s songs they were my favorites. Let’s listen to one of them……

I picked up Malo’s debut album as soon as it was released in 1972 because the band had a lot in common with Santana (one of my favorite bands) – both bands were out of San Francisco, both featured latin rock, and both had a lead guitarist with the last name of Santana. Yes…..Malo’s lead guitar player (and founding member) was Jorge Santana who, as it turned out, was Carlos’ brother. Malo’s self titled debut album was great and has continued to be a favorite of mine to this very day. I saw them perform live in 1972 on a tour supporting their new album and they were even better live! Unfortunately, the original group splintered after the first album. Although versions of the band continued to perform and record, none of these versions managed to recaptured the magic from that debut album. So…..for today’s Two’fer Tuesday post let’s travel back forty one years and enjoy a couple of great tracks from that debut album.

Well June of 1973 was nothing to write home about from a music perspective. Fortunately for us, Joe Walsh saved the day by releasing his classic album The Smoker You Drink They Player You Get. Before we get to listen to a couple of cuts from this great album let’s talk about some of the less notable releases forty years ago.

Gary Glitter – Touch Me

An aptly named album given what we learned about Gary in later years (Google it if you don’t know) but less than stellar music.

The Partridge Family – Crossword Puzzle

A fake TV family that happened to be a fake music group….not exactly the stuff of rock legends. The one an only saving grace…..Laurie Partridge (Susan Dey) was hot!

The Osmonds – The Plan

A real family making bad music.

Yes….June of 1973 looked like a vast wasteland until Joe stepped in and saved the day with his first solo album after the James Gang. Let’s listen to the huge hit from his album, Rocky Mountain Way. You have to love that opening guitar riff…..

Since it’s twofer Tuesday let’s check out Joe’s softer side on the album with Meadows, maybe my favorite song on the album. If you ever had any doubts as whether Joe is really a wild man, the introduction to this song should settle things.

Albums released in April and May of 1973 were a mixed bag. Some solid releases from existing bands, some excellent debut albums by new bands, and one release that came out of the blue and took the charts by storm based on the success of the movie that featured it as a soundtrack. Let’s dive right in to some of the highlights.

April

Eagles – Desperado

I posted about the early days of the Eagles, including their second album Desperado, in a post from last year named The Southern California Sound #14. It is worth checking out if you didn’t catch the first time around. Here is the title song from the album which is probably my favorite Eagles album of all time……

Manassas – Down The Road

Down The Road was the second, and unfortunately the final, studio album by Manassas. I have already written about the reasons for this being their last album in my The Southern California Sound #13 post from last year….check it out if you are interested. In the meantime, here is a great Chris Hillman song from the album.

Marshall Tucker Band – Marshall Tucker Band

I did a detailed post, Album of the Week #9, about this album so I won’t bore you with all of the details again but I highly suggest you read it if you are not familiar with the band. Here is my favorite song from the album……

I can’t tell you how much I wish that someone still made music this good!

May

Bachman Turner Overdrive – Bachman Turner Overdrive

There is a great story that goes along with this one. After Randy Bachman left/was forced to leave the Guess Who he created a new band, Brave Belt, that never really caught on. They lost their recording contract and were about to give up when fate intervened. Here is the story as captured on Wikipedia…..

In April 1973, Charlie Fach of Mercury Records returned to his office after a trip to France to find a stack of unplayed demo tapes waiting on his desk. Wanting to start completely fresh, he took a trash can and slid all the tapes into it except one which missed the can and fell onto the floor. Fach then picked up the tape and noticed Bachman’s name on it. He remembered talking to him the previous year and had told Bachman that if he ever put a demo together to send it to him. While playing the first song on the 7½ inch reel, “Gimme Your Money Please”, Fach called Bachman to tell him that he wanted to sign the band.

Charlie convinced them to change their name to Bachman Turner Overdrive and the rest is history. Let’s listen to the song that saved them.

Michael Oldfield – Tubular Bells

Tubular Bells came out of no where back in May of 1973. It was recorded by Michael Oldfield when he was only 19 years old and garnered significant radio plan later that year when it was featured as part of the sound track of the hit movie The Exorcist. Let’s listen to Tubular Bells part one which took up the whole first side of the album when it was released.

Just like I long for music as good as Can’t You See…..I also long for the days when a single song could span the entire side of an album.!